Greg Davies and Alex Horne return to their thrones as two more series of Taskmaster are announced for Dave

Monday 3rd October

It was announced today that multi-award winning broadcaster UKTV has ordered a fourth and fifth series of hit show Taskmaster from Avalon Television for its entertainment channel Dave. BAFTA-nominated Greg Davies will once again assume the role of the Taskmaster with show creator and 2014 Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee Alex Horne returning as his assistant. With each series increasing from five to eight episodes, the two series recommission (16 x 60") comes after Taskmaster was nominated for Best Entertainment Programme at the 2016 Broadcast Awards. The series was 2015's most watched commission on UKTV Play.

In each series the Taskmaster and his loyal assistant will judge five new unwitting comedians as they compete against each other with creativity, cunning and genius in a series of stupefying tasks. Series one was won by Josh Widdicombe, Katherine Ryan took home the series two crown, but with series three, starring Al Murray, Dave Gorman, Sara Pascoe, Paul Chowdhry and Rob Beckett, beginning on Tuesday, Katherine's reign as Taskmaster champion will be short-lived.

Alex Horne, executive producer and creator of Taskmaster, and the Taskmaster's assistant said, "As the Taskmaster's personal secretary and trainer I have been instructed to state that we're both satisfied that a total of ten apparently intelligent comedians will be doing more stupid things stupidly for Mr Davies. The Taskmaster has even bought me a caravan so this time I will be constantly on site to watch the desperate attempts and report back, before he ignores me and judges them."

Hilary Rosen, deputy director of commissioning at UKTV, added,

Greg and Alex are growing into an irresistible double act and it's a joy to watch the tasks unfold on each of the series. I'm thrilled to commission not just one, but two new series for the channel and look forward to getting our next contestants lined up.

Jon Thoday, joint managing director of Avalon Television, said,

We look forward to working with Dave on series four and five of Taskmaster - the channel is a brilliant home for entertainment shows and we really appreciate their continued support.

Steve North, Dave general manager, added,

Taskmaster just keeps getting bigger and better, I look forward to seeing what fresh hell Greg and Alex bring to the new unsuspecting contestants. It's fantastic that we have built a show on Dave which has generated such a brilliant fan base and viewers are genuinely excited to see what tasks Alex Horne's genius mind comes up with every episode.

An Avalon Television production, series four and five of Taskmaster is commissioned by Hilary Rosen, deputy director of commissioning at UKTV and ordered by Richard Watsham, director of commissioning and Dave general manager, Steve North. Executive producers for the series are Alex Horne, Richard Allen-Turner, Rob Aslett, James Taylor, Jon Thoday, and Andy Devonshire (The Apprentice and The Great British Bake Off), who also acts as series director, and Hilary Rosen for UKTV. Andy Cartwright is series producer.

About Dave

Dave proudly presents a plethora of original commissions; award-winning Crackanory, Ross Noble
Freewheeling, Dave Gorman's Modern Life is Goodish, and Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled, all laden with the biggest names in British comedy. Not to mention a brand spanking new original series Hoff the Record, Undercover and Taskmaster.

There's national treasures like QI, Red Dwarf X, Mock the Week and Have I Got News For You, plus the Red Bull trilogy of Cliff Diving, X-Fighters and the Soap Box races. And of course, we still have Top Gear.
Dave is the UK's most watched non-PSB channel broadcasting to over 27 million people per month, featuring hit US shows including the sharp-witted and sharp-suited Suits, the ludicrously addictive Lizard Lick Towing and the wonder that is Storage Hunters and now original commission Storage Hunters UK, the gift that keeps on giving.

About UKTV

UKTV is the biggest multichannel broadcaster in the UK.

The award-winning independent has eleven imaginative brands - UKTV Play, Dave, W, Gold, Alibi, Yesterday, Drama, Really, Home, Eden and Good Food. These include the two most popular non-PSB channels in the UK and account for 9.31% of the British commercial TV market. The company's most recent financial results showed record-breaking year-end revenue of £319m and EBITDA of £82m. It invested £148m in programming and related launches last year, and is becoming an increasingly significant investor in UK creativity.

UKTV has a truly innovative model, curating brand-defining commissions, high-profile acquisitions and the very best of BBC, alongside programmes originally shown on ITV and Channel 4. The network embraces technology to deliver inspired channels to audiences through Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media, BT, TalkTalk, YouView, Freesat, Amazon Fire and UKTV Play, and distributes its highly valued original programmes to 200 territories.

Now celebrating its 23rd year at the forefront of digital television, UKTV - an independent commercial joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (SNI) - is proud to be the only British television broadcaster in The Sunday Times top 100 companies list.

About Avalon Television

Taskmaster is produced in the UK by Avalon Television for UKTV's Dave. Avalon Television is a completely independently owned production house operating out of New York, Los Angeles and London. Avalon Television are currently in production with: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO), Not Going Out (BBC One), Catastrophe (Channel 4), Russell Howard's Stand Up Central (Comedy Central UK), Russell Howard & Mum: USA Road Trip (Comedy Central UK), Man Down (Channel 4), The Chris Ramsey Show (Comedy Central UK), Adam DeVine's House Party (Comedy Central USA), Unspun With Matt Forde (Dave) and Workaholics (Comedy Central USA).